1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus which is capable of obtaining an image produced by combining additional information with a document image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, apparatuses for combining additional information with an image on a document and recording it have been disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,943,833, 4,963,920, 4,714,940, 4,639,791, 4,916,489, 4,931,882, 4,989,042 and so on. In the above prior art, additional information is selected by using a digitizer or keys of an operation section. For example, the apparatus shown in FIG. 16 utilizes a digitizer.
However, when additional information is input in a conventional image forming apparatus, complicated operations must be performed. For example, characters must be searched in a character string on an editor and keys must be touched. The foregoing conventional apparatus cannot be effectively used because it has poor input efficiency. As a result, the likelihood of users to use the apparatus declines. Also, since character information which is entered beforehand is often excluded, for example, Japanese Kanji characters, the applications of an additional information input device are limited.
In addition, in the conventional image forming apparatus, character fonts which are prepared in the image forming apparatus beforehand can only be output as additional information. Consequently, unique characters, such as modified additional information, cannot be easily combined with an image on an original document.